Associating an indication of user emotional reaction with content items presented by a social networking system

ABSTRACT

A social networking system user may associate a graphical element representing the user&#39;s emotional reaction with a content item presented by the social networking system. The user is presented with one or more graphical elements maintained by the social networking system and selects a graphical element for associating with the content item. If certain graphical elements are selected, the social networking system prompts the user for compensation or requests compensation from an entity associated with the selected graphical element. The selected graphical element is associated with the content item and a connection, or other information, between the user and the object identifying the selected graphical element is stored by the social networking system. The selected graphical element may be displayed with the content item to the user and to other users connected to the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser.No. 13/842,705, filed Mar. 15, 2013, allowed, which is incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to social networking systems and inparticular to providing an indication of a user's opinion regardingcontent presented by a social networking system.

Social networks, or social utilities that track and enable connectionsbetween users (including people, businesses, and other entities), havebecome prevalent in recent years. In particular, a social network systemallows users to more efficiently communicate information to other usersof the social networking system. Typically, social networking systemsmaintain connections among their users and identify content likely to berelevant to their users. Social networking systems also collect andmaintain information about their users. Examples of information aboutusers maintained by a social networking system include staticinformation such as geographic location, employer, job type, age, musicpreferences, and interests or dynamic information describing userinteractions. Additionally, many social networking systems notify a userof actions performed by other users connected to the user.

Performing actions communicated to the social networking system allowssocial networking system users to interact with each other or withobjects maintained by the social networking system. For example, usersmay post comments to pages associated with other users, view images,view video data, listen to audio data or perform other actions onvarious objects maintained by the social networking system. Actionsperformed by a user are frequently distributed to additional usersconnected to the user who performed the action. When interacting withother users or objects, users may seek to indicate their opinion oremotions toward the objects or users. For example, users may seek toindicate they dislike a post, that a post made them laugh, or that apost made them cry. While users may post written comments expressingopinions towards an object, an action performed by another user, oranother user, it is difficult for a user to clearly convey emotionthrough written comments.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention enable users to convey emotions towardsvarious objects maintained by a social networking system by associatingone or more emotion icons (“emoticons” or “emojis”) with objectsmaintained by the social networking system. For example, if a user likesan object in the social networking system, the user associates an emojirepresenting a thumbs up with the post or if the user dislikes theobject, the user associates an emoji representing a thumbs down. Theemoji associated with a post are displayed along with the content of thepost to other users.

In one embodiment, a user requests to associate an emoji with an objectpresented to the user by the social networking system. For example, theuser requests to associate an emoji with a story included in a newsfeedpresented to the user. Based on the request, the social networkingsystem may present the user with one or more emoji to associate with theobject, and the user selects an emoji from the presented emoji. In oneembodiment, the social networking system prompts the user for paymentinformation to associate a selected emoji with the object. The selectedemoji is associated with the object and a connection, or otherinformation, between the user and the object identifying the selectedemoji is stored by the social networking system.

Emoji associated with an object may be displayed to other users alongwith the object. For example, if users have associated multiple emojiwith content included in a post, such as a story, one or more of theemoji are displayed along with the content. Additionally, each emoji maybe displayed along with an identifier of the user associating the emojiwith the post. Further, emoji associated with an object may be used whenselecting objects for presentation to a user or for ordering objectspresented to a user.

The features and advantages described in this summary and the followingdetailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features andadvantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in viewof the drawings, specification, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system environment including a socialnetworking system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a social networking system, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an interaction diagram of a method for associating emoji withobjects in a social networking system, in accordance with one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a user interface flow for associating emojiwith objects in a social networking system, in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A shows an example user interface displaying a newsfeed story, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5B illustrates a user interface displaying an emoji selector, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5C illustrates a user interface for providing payment informationfor a selected emoji, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5D shows a newsfeed story associated with an emoji, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5E shows a newsfeed story associated with multiple emojis as gifts,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION System Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system environment 100including a social networking system 101. The system environment 100shown by FIG. 1 includes one or more client devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c(also referred to individually and collectively using reference number“120”), one or more users 125 a, 125 b, 125 c (also referred toindividually and collectively using reference number “125”), a socialnetworking system 101, and a network 110. In alternative configurations,different and/or additional components may be included in the systemenvironment 200.

A client device 120 is a device capable of receiving user input as wellas transmitting and/or receiving data via the network 110. In oneembodiment, a client device 120 is a conventional computer system, suchas a desktop or laptop computer. In another embodiment, a client device120 may be a device having computer functionality, such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart-phone or a similardevice. In one embodiment, a client device 120 executes an applicationallowing a user 125 using the client device 120 to interact with thesocial networking system 101. For example, a client device 120 executesa browser application to allow interaction between the client device 120and the social networking system 101 via the network 110. In anotherembodiment, a client device 120 interacts with the social networkingsystem 101 through an application programming interface (API) that runson the native operating system of the client device 120, such as IOS® orANDROID™.

The client devices 120 are configured to communicate via the network110, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide areanetworks, using both wired and wireless communication systems. In oneembodiment, the network 110 uses standard communications technologiesand/or protocols. Thus, the network 110 may include communicationchannels using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples ofnetworking protocols used for communicating via the network 110 includemultiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol(HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol(FTP). Data exchanged over the network 110 may be represented using anysuitable format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensiblemarkup language (XML). In some embodiments, all or some of thecommunication links of the network 110 may be encrypted using anysuitable technique or techniques.

The social networking system 101 comprises one or more computing devicesstoring information about users and objects, as well as informationdescribing connections between various users and objects. Additionally,the social networking system 101 may provide content to one or moreusers based on information about the users maintained by the socialnetworking system 101. In various embodiments, the social networkingsystem 101 is one or more servers accessible by client devices 120 viathe network 110. The social networking system 101 is further describedbelow in conjunction with FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of one embodiment of the social networking system101. In the embodiment shown by FIG. 2, the social networking system 101includes a user profile store 205, an object store 210, an action logger215, an action log 220, an edge store 225, a newsfeed generator 230, anemoji store 235, an emoji association module 240, and a web server 245.In other embodiments, the social networking system 101 may includeadditional, fewer, or different modules for various applications.Conventional components such as network interfaces, security mechanisms,load balancers, failover servers, management and network operationsconsoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details ofthe system.

Each user of the social networking system 101 is associated with a userprofile, which is stored in the user profile store 205. A user profileincludes declarative information about the user that was explicitlyshared by the user, and may also include profile information inferred bythe social networking system 101. In one embodiment, a user profileincludes multiple data fields, each data field describing one or moreattributes of the corresponding user of the social networking system101. Examples of information stored in a user profile includebiographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information,such as work experience, educational history, gender, hobbies orpreferences, location and the like. A user profile may also store otherinformation provided by the user, for example, images or videos. Furtherexamples of information provided by the user include posts communicatedto the social networking system 101 from a client device 120. Posts mayinclude data such as status updates or other textual data, locationinformation, photos, videos, links, music or other similar data and/ormedia and are associated with the user profile of the posting user. Incertain embodiments, images of users may be tagged with identificationinformation of users of the social networking system 101 displayed in animage. A user profile in the user profile store 205 may also maintainreferences to actions by the corresponding user performed on contentitems in the object store 210 and stored in the action log 220.

The object store 210 stores objects each representing various types ofcontent. For example, the object store 235 stores a data structureincluding data for each object having information fields describingcharacteristics of the objects. Different data structures may be storedfor different types of objects. For example, for event type objects, theobject store 235 includes data structures specifying the time andlocation for an event. When a new object of a particular type iscreated, the social networking system 101 initializes a new datastructure of the appropriate type, assigns a unique object identifier tothe data structure, and adds data to the data structure as needed.Examples of content represented by an object include a page post, astatus update, a photograph, a video, a link, a shared content item, agaming application achievement, a check-in event at a local business, abrand page, or any other type of content. Social networking system usersmay create objects stored by the content store 210, such as statusupdates, photos tagged by users to be associated with other objects inthe social networking system, events, groups or applications. In someembodiments, objects are received from third-party applications orthird-party applications separate from the social networking system 101.In one embodiment, objects in the content store 210 represent singlepieces of content, or content “items.”

The action logger 215 receives communications about user actionsinternal to and/or external to the social networking system 101,populating the action log 220 with information about user actions.Examples of actions include adding a connection to another user, sendinga message to another user, uploading an image, reading a message fromanother user, viewing content associated with another user, attending anevent posted by another user, among others. In addition, a number ofactions may involve an object and one or more particular users, so theseactions are associated with those users as well and stored in the actionlog 220.

The action log 220 may be used by the social networking system 101 totrack user actions on the social networking system 101, as well asactions on third party systems that communicate information to thesocial networking system 101. Users may interact with various objects onthe social networking system 101, and information describing theseinteractions is stored in the action log 220. Examples of interactionswith objects include: commenting on posts, sharing links, andchecking-in to physical locations via a mobile device, accessing contentitems, and any other interactions. Additional examples of interactionswith objects on the social networking system 101 that are included inthe action log 220 include: commenting on a photo album, communicatingwith a user, establishing a connection with an object, joining an eventto a calendar, joining a group, creating an event, authorizing anapplication, using an application, expressing a preference for an object(“liking” the object) and engaging in a transaction. Additionally, theaction log 220 may record a user's interactions with advertisements onthe social networking system 101 as well as with other applicationsoperating on the social networking system 101. In some embodiments, datafrom the action log 220 is used to infer interests or preferences of auser, augmenting the interests included in the user's user profile andallowing a more complete understanding of user preferences.

The action log 220 may also store user actions taken on a third partysystem, such as an external website, and communicated to the socialnetworking system 101. For example, an e-commerce website that primarilysells sporting equipment at bargain prices may recognize a user of asocial networking system 101 through a social plug-in enabling thee-commerce website to identify the user of the social networking system101. Because users of the social networking system 101 are uniquelyidentifiable, e-commerce websites, such as this sporting equipmentretailer, may communicate information about a user's actions outside ofthe social networking system 101 to the social networking system 101 forassociation with the user. Hence, the action log 220 may recordinformation about actions users perform on a third party system,including webpage viewing histories, advertisements that were engaged,purchases made, and other patterns from shopping and buying.

In one embodiment, the edge store 225 stores information describingconnections between users and other objects on the social networkingsystem 101 as edges. Some edges may be defined by users, allowing usersto specify their relationships with other users. For example, users maygenerate edges with other users that parallel the users' real-liferelationships, such as friends, co-workers, partners, and so forth.Other edges are generated when users interact with objects in the socialnetworking system 101, such as expressing interest in a page on thesocial networking system, sharing a link with other users of the socialnetworking system, and commenting on posts made by other users of thesocial networking system.

In one embodiment, an edge may include various features eachrepresenting characteristics of interactions between users, interactionsbetween users and object, or interactions between objects. For example,features included in an edge describe rate of interaction between twousers, how recently two users have interacted with each other, the rateor amount of information retrieved by one user about an object, or thenumber and types of comments posted by a user about an object. Thefeatures may also represent information describing a particular objector user. For example, a feature may represent the level of interest thata user has in a particular topic, the rate at which the user logs intothe social networking system 101, or information describing demographicinformation about a user. Each feature may be associated with a sourceobject or user, a target object or user, and a feature value. A featuremay be specified as an expression based on values describing the sourceobject or user, the target object or user, or interactions between thesource object or user and target object or user; hence, an edge may berepresented as one or more feature expressions.

The edge store 225 also stores information about edges, such as affinityscores for objects, interests, and other users. Affinity scores, or“affinities,” may be computed by the social networking system 101 overtime to approximate a user's interest in an object, interest, and otherusers in the social networking system 101 based on the actions performedby the user. A user's affinity may be computed by the social networkingsystem 101 over time to approximate a user's interest for an object,interest, or other user in the social networking system 101 based on theactions performed by the user. Computation of affinity is furtherdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/978,265, filed on Dec.23, 2010, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/690,254, filed on Nov. 30,2012, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/689,969, filed on Nov. 30,2012, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/690,088, filed on Nov. 30,2012, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.Multiple interactions between a user and a specific object may be storedas a single edge in the edge store 225, in one embodiment.Alternatively, each interaction between a user and a specific object isstored as a separate edge. In some embodiments, connections betweenusers may be stored in the user profile store 205, or the user profilestore 205 may access the edge store 225 to determine connections betweenusers.

Data stored in the user profile store 205, the object store 210, actionlog 220, and the edge store 225 allows the social networking system 101to generate a social graph where nodes represent objects or users andedges represent connections between nodes identifying relationshipsbetween users and/or objects. An edge between two nodes in the socialgraph represents a particular kind of connection between the users orobjects corresponding to each of the nodes, which may result from anaction that was performed by one of the nodes on the other node.Maintaining a social graph allows the social networking system 101 toreadily identify relationships between various objects and/or users.

In one embodiment, the social networking system 101 identifies storieslikely to be of interest to a user through a “newsfeed” presented to theuser. A story presented to a user describes an action taken by anadditional user connected to the user and identifies the additionaluser. In some embodiments, a story describing an action performed by auser may be accessible to users not connected to the user that performedthe action. The newsfeed manager 230 may generate stories forpresentation to a user based on information in the action log 220 and inthe edge store 225 or may select candidate stories included in theobject store 210. One or more of the candidate stories are selected andpresented to a user by the newsfeed manager 230.

For example, the newsfeed manager 230 receives a request to present oneor more stories to a social networking system user. The newsfeed manager230 accesses one or more of the user profile store 205, the object store210, the action log 220, and the edge store 225 to retrieve informationabout the identified user. For example, stories or other data associatedwith users connected to the identified user are retrieved. The retrievedstories or other data are analyzed by the newsfeed manager 230 toidentify content likely to be relevant to the identified user. Forexample, stories associated with users not connected to the identifieduser or stories associated with users for which the identified user hasless than a threshold affinity are discarded as candidate stories. Basedon various criteria, the newsfeed manager 230 selects one or more of thecandidate stories for presentation to the identified user.

In various embodiments, the newsfeed manager 230 presents stories to auser through a newsfeed including a plurality of stories selected forpresentation to the user. The newsfeed may include a limited number ofstories or may include a complete set of candidate stories. The numberof stories included in a newsfeed may be determined in part by a userpreference included in user profile store 205. The newsfeed manager 230may also determine the order in which selected stories are presented viathe newsfeed. For example, the newsfeed manager 230 determines that auser has a highest affinity for a specific user and increases the numberof stories in the newsfeed associated with the specific user or modifiesthe positions in the newsfeed where stories associated with the specificuser are presented.

The newsfeed manager 230 may also account for actions by a userindicating a preference for types of stories and selects stories havingthe same, or similar, types for inclusion in the newsfeed. Additionally,newsfeed manager 230 may analyze stories received by social networkingsystem 101 from various users to obtain information about userpreferences or actions from the analyzed stories. This information maybe used to refine subsequent selection of stories for newsfeedspresented to various users.

In one embodiment, the social networking system 101 includes an emojistore 235 including information describing icons or images representingvarious emotional states or other information. These icons or images arereferred to herein as “emoji.” Emoji may be static images or may beanimated images. For example, an emoji may include a cartoon charactercrying including a pair of animated tears coming out of the character'seyes. The emoji store 235 includes data describing various emoji and mayinclude additional information such as pricing or availability of someemoji. In one embodiment, information describing the emoji is includedin the object store 210.

In one embodiment, a group of emoji are available to users for free,while additional emoji may be obtained by the user by providingcompensation to the social networking system 101. For example, a basicset of emoji are available for free, while more complex or detailedemoji may be acquired in exchange for compensation to the socialnetworking system 101. For example a basic set of emoji are staticimages while premium emojis are animated images. In other embodiments auser provides compensation to the social networking system 101 beforehaving access to any emoji; alternatively, all emoji in the emoji store235 are accessible without providing compensation to the socialnetworking system 101.

In one embodiment, compensating the social networking system 101 allowsa user to associate an emoji with objects a limited number of times orfor a limited period of time. In other embodiments, compensating thesocial networking system 101 allows the user to associate the emoji withobjects for an unlimited length of time or an unlimited number of times.For example, compensating the social networking system 101 allows theuser to associate an emoji with a limited number of objects. A user maycompensate the social networking system 101 to associate a set, orbundle, of emoji with objects. For example, a user may purchaseassociation of 5 emojis with objects for 5 dollars. In otherembodiments, the social networking system 101 provides users with accessto emoji through a subscription, where the user compensate the socialnetworking system 101 at specified intervals to associate various emojiwith objects. For example, a user provides the social networking system101 with a monthly fee of 5 dollars to associate up to 10 emoji withobjects per month. In both embodiments, the emojis made available to theuser may be single use emojis, limited time use emojis, limited timeperiod emojis, or unlimited usage emojis.

In some embodiments, an emoji subscription allows a user to associateany emoji covered by the subscription with one or more objects anunlimited number of times while the subscription is valid. This allows auser to associate emojis from a specific category or group with objects.For example, the social networking system 101 offers a subscriptionproviding users with access to emoji related to a specific cartooncharacter and allowing users purchasing the subscription to associateany emoji related to the cartoon character with objects for the durationof the subscription. In one embodiment, the subscription allows the userto access newly added emoji related to the category or group encompassedby the subscription.

One or more emojis included in the emoji store 235 may be are sponsoredor subsidized by advertisers or other entities. In one embodiment,access to sponsored emoji is limited to users having a connection withthe advertiser or entity via the social networking system 101. Forexample, a movie production studio may sponsor emojis featuringcharacters from a movie that is about to be released or that has beenrecently released. Users connected to a page in the social networkingsystem associated with the movie or with the movie production studio mayhave access to associate the sponsored emoji with objects. The entitysponsoring emojis may compensate the social networking system 101 when auser connected to the sponsoring entity associates a sponsored emojiwith an object. In other embodiments, an entity may provide a portion ofthe compensation to the social networking system 101 when a userassociates an emoji sponsored by the entity with an object while theuser provides another portion of the compensation to the socialnetworking system 101.

External systems, such as external websites, may provide emoji to thesocial networking system 101 for storage in the emoji store 235. Anexternal system may specify the amount of compensation to be received bythe social networking system 101 to allow a user to associate emoji fromthe external system with posts. The social networking system 101 mayreceive the compensation and communicate the received compensation tothe external system. In some embodiments, the social networking system101 charges an additional fee to the user for associating emoji withobjects or charges the external system a fee for providing emoji tousers. Hence, the social networking system 101 may retain a portion ofthe compensation provided by a user for associating emoji provided by anexternal publisher with objects.

The emoji association module 240 receives requests from users toassociate emoji with objects maintained by the social networking system101 and associates emoji selected by a user with an object. When theemoji association module 240 receives a request to associate emoji withan object, the emoji association module 240 presents one or more emojifrom the emoji store 235 to the user. When a user selects an emoji, theemoji association module determines if compensation is to be received toassociate the selected emoji with an object and obtains paymentinformation from the user if compensation is to be received. The emojiassociation module 240 also stores a connection between the selectedemoji, the object, and the user in the edge store 225. Association ofemoji with an object maintained by the social networking system 101 isfurther described below in conjunction with FIGS. 3 and 4.

The web server 245 links the social networking system 101 via thenetwork 110 to the one or more client devices 120. The web server 245serves web pages, as well as other content, such as JAVA®, FLASH®, XMLand so forth. The web server 245 may receive and route messages betweenthe social networking system 101 and one or more client devices 120, forexample, instant messages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and shortmessage service (SMS) messages, or messages sent using any othersuitable messaging technique. A user may send a request to the webserver 245 to upload information, for example, images or videos that arestored in the object store 210. Additionally, the web server 245 mayprovide API functionality to send data directly to native client deviceoperating systems, such as IOS®, ANDROID™, or RIM®.

Associating Emoji with Social Networking System Content

FIG. 3 illustrates an interaction diagram of one embodiment of a methodfor associating emoji with objects maintained by a social networkingsystem 101. For purposes of illustration, FIG. 3 describes associatingemoji with a story provided to a user 125 by the social networkingsystem 101. However, emoji may be associated with any object maintainedby the social networking system 101 and provided to users 125.

In FIG. 3, a user 125 requests 301 one or more newsfeed stories from thesocial networking system 101 using a client device 120. When the socialnetworking system 101 receives 303 the request, the newsfeed generator225 selects one or more newsfeed stories, such as the stories determinedto be most relevant to the user 125, and sends 305 the selected storiesto the client device 120. Upon receiving 307 the selected stories, theclient device 120 displays 309 the selected stories to the user 125.

The user 125 may elect to associate an emoji with one of the displayedstories to indicate the user's opinion or emotion toward the story. Toassociate an emoji with the story, the user 125 requests 311 emojiaccessible to the user. The social networking system 101 receives 313the request and retrieves emoji available to the user, which are sent315 to the client device. For example, the social networking system 101identifies groups of emoji the user has provided compensation to thesocial networking system 101 for accessing and/or identifies emoji thatthe user is otherwise enabled to associate with objects. For example,the user accesses an interface element in a story to request emoji fromthe social networking system 101, and the emoji eligible for use by theuser are received 317 from the social networking system 101 anddisplayed 319 along with the story.

From the displayed emoji, the user selects 321 an emoji to associatewith the story, and the social networking system 101 receives 323 anidentification of the selected emoji. The social networking system 101determines if compensation is needed for the user to associate theselected emoji with the story. If the social networking system 101receives compensation to associate the selected emoji with the story,the social networking system requests 325 payment information from theuser 125. The client device 120 receives 317 the request forcompensation and prompts the user to provide payment information.Payment information provided by the user 125 to the client device 120 issent 329 to the social networking system 101. When the social networkingsystem 101 receives 331 the payment information, the social networkingsystem associates 333 the selected emoji with the story. In oneembodiment, the emoji is displayed along with the story to the user 125and additional users connected to the user 125 may be notified that theuser 125 associated the selected emoji with the story.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a user interface flow presented toa viewing user of a social networking system associating an emoji withan object. The viewing user is presented 401 with one or more contentitems, such as newsfeed stories 411. FIG. 5A shows one example of anewsfeed story 411 presented to the viewing user. One or more of thepresented content items includes an interface element 413 forassociating an emoji with the content item.

When the viewing user interacts with the interface element 413 toassociate one or more emoji with a content item, one or more emojieligible to be selected by the viewing user are displayed 403. In theexample shown by FIG. 4, the emoji eligible for selection by the viewinguser are displayed 403 in an emoji selector 421, an additional exampleof which is shown in FIG. 5B. In one embodiment, emoji eligible forselection by the viewing user are displayed in the emoji selector 421 asan array or grid. Alternatively, the emoji selector 421 displays one ormore categories or themes, and displays emoji eligible for selection bythe viewing user and associated with a selected category or theme. Forexample, the emoji selector 421 displays a list including smiley faceemojis, sad face emojis, and other categories of emoji. The viewing userselects a category of emoji from the list, and the emoji selector 421displays an array or grid of emoji included in the selected category. Inanother embodiment, the emoji selector 421 directs the viewing users toa webpage or another source for selecting emoji.

In some embodiments, the emoji selector 421 may present emojis to theviewing user based on the contents of the content item to be associatedwith an emoji. For example, if a content item includes a positive reviewof a superhero movie, the emoji selector 421 may display 403 emojisincluding characters from the superhero movie. Additionally the socialnetworking system 101 may access stored information associated with theviewing user, such as emoji previously associated with content items bythe viewing user, and select emoji displayed 403 to the viewing userbased on the information associated with the viewing user. The emojiselector 421 may alternatively display 403 a specified number of mostfrequently selected emoji (e.g., the 10 most popular emojis during thelast 7 days).

If the viewing user selects an emoji for which compensation is needed toassociate the emoji with the content item, the social networking systemprompts 405 the viewing user for payment information (e.g., credit cardnumber, bank account number, etc.). FIG. 5C shows an example userinterface for the viewing user providing payment information to thesocial networking system 101. In one embodiment, the social networkingsystem 101 stores previously-received payment information for anotheremoji and allows the viewing user to select the stored paymentinformation 433. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5C, the user interface includesan interface element 435 for confirming purchase of the emoji and/or aninterface element 437 for cancelling purchase of the emoji.

After receiving payment information from the viewing user, the socialnetworking system displays 407 the selected emoji along with the contentitem to additional users of the social networking system 101 connectedto the viewing user. Information identifying the user associating theemoji with the content item may be displayed along with the emoji insome embodiments. For example, as shown in FIG. 5D, a profile picture ofthe viewing user associating an emoji with a content item is displayedto users connected to the viewing user along with the content item andemoji FIG. 5E shows an example of a user interface where profilepictures of multiple users associating emoji with a content item aredisplayed along with the content item and emoji when the content item isviewed by users connected to one or more of the users that associatedemoji with the content item.

SUMMARY

The features and advantages described in the specification are not allinclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantageswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of thedrawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted thatthe language used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selectedto delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and coupled to acomputer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to inthe specification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable mediumconfigured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by aprocessor cause the processor to: store one or more graphical elementsin a social networking system, each graphical element providing a visualrepresentation of an emotional state associated with a user; presentcontent items to a viewing user of the social networking system; receivea request from the viewing user to associate a graphical element with aselected content item from the presented content items; retrieve one ormore graphical elements eligible to be used by the viewing user; presentthe retrieved one or more graphical elements to the viewing user;receive a selection of a selected graphical element from the one or moregraphical elements from the viewing user; prompt the viewing user forpayment information associated with the selected graphical element;associate the selected graphical element with the content item whenpayment information is received; and display the selected graphicalelement along with the content item to one or more additional users ofthe social networking system connected to the viewing user and viewingthe selected content item.
 2. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for retrieving one or moregraphical elements eligible to be used by the viewing user cause theprocessor to: retrieve one or more graphical elements for which thesocial networking system previously received payment information fromthe viewing user.
 3. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 2, wherein the instructions for retrieving one or more graphicalelements eligible to be used by the viewing user further cause theprocessor to: retrieve one or more graphical elements for which thesocial networking system does not require payment information.
 4. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein theinstructions for associating the selected graphical element with thecontent item when payment information is received cause the processorto: associate the selected graphical element with the content item whena portion of the payment information is received from an entityassociated with the selected graphical element and a remaining portionof the payment information is received from the viewing user.
 5. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein theinstructions for associating the selected graphical element with thecontent item when payment information is received cause the processorto: associate the selected graphical element with the content item whenthe payment information is received from an entity associated with theselected graphical element.
 6. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for associating the selectedgraphical element with the content item when payment information isreceived cause the processor to: associate the selected graphicalelement with the content item when the payment information is receivedfrom the viewing user.
 7. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein the instructions for displaying the selected graphicalelement along with the content item to one or more additional users ofthe social networking system connected to the viewing user and viewingthe content item cause the processor to: display the selected graphicalelement and an identifier of the viewing user to the one or moreadditional users of the social networking system connected to theviewing user along with the selected content item.
 8. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructionsthat when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: store aconnection between the viewing user and the content item, the connectionidentifying the selected graphical element.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the content items compriseone or more stories describing actions of other social networking systemusers connected to the viewing user.
 10. A non-transitory computerreadable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions whenexecuted by a processor cause the processor to: store one or moregraphical elements in a social networking system, each graphical elementproviding a visual representation of an emotional state associated witha user; present content items to a viewing user of the social networkingsystem; receive a request from the viewing user to associate angraphical element with a selected content item from the presentedcontent items; retrieve one or more graphical elements eligible to beused by the viewing user; identify one or more of the retrieved one ormore graphical elements associated with information included in theselected content item; present the identified one or more graphicalelements to the viewing user; receive a selection of a selectedgraphical element from the identified one or more graphical elementsfrom the viewing user; and store information identifying the viewinguser, the selected graphical element, and the content item in the socialnetworking system.
 11. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein the instructions for retrieving one or more graphicalelements eligible to be used by the viewing user cause the processor to:retrieve one or more graphical elements for which the social networkingsystem previously received payment information from the viewing user.12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein theinstructions for retrieving one or more graphical elements eligible tobe used by the viewing user further cause the processor to: retrieve oneor more graphical elements for which the social networking system doesnot require payment information.
 13. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions that whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to: display the selectedgraphical element and an identifier of the viewing user to one or moreadditional users of the social networking system connected to theviewing user and viewing the selected content item.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein theinstructions for receiving the selection of the selected graphicalelement from the identified one or more graphical elements from theviewing user cause the processor to: determine whether to requestcompensation from the viewing user based on the selected graphicalelement; and request payment information from the viewing user ifcompensation is determined to be requested.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium configured to store instructions, theinstructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to: storeone or more graphical elements in a social networking system, eachgraphical element providing a visual representation of an emotionalstate associated with a user; present one or more content items to aviewing user of the social networking system; receive a request from theviewing user to associate an graphical element with a selected contentitem from the presented content items; present one or more of the storedgraphical elements to the viewing user; receive a selection of aselected graphical element from the presented one or more graphicalelements from the viewing user; associate the selected graphical elementwith the content item when payment information is received; and displaythe selected graphical element along with the content item to one ormore additional users of the social networking system connected to theviewing user and viewing the selected content item.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein theinstructions for presenting one or more of the stored graphical elementsto the viewing user cause the processor to: retrieve one or moregraphical elements eligible to be used by the viewing user; select agroup of the one or more graphical elements eligible to be used by theviewing user; and present the group of the one or more graphicalelements to the viewing user.
 17. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for presenting one or moreof the stored graphical elements to the viewing user cause the processorto: retrieve one or more graphical elements for which the socialnetworking system previously received payment information from theviewing user.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim17, wherein the instructions for presenting one or more of the storedgraphical elements to the viewing user further cause the processor to:retrieve one or more graphical elements for which the social networkingsystem does not require payment information.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions forreceiving the selection of the selected graphical element from thepresented one or more graphical elements from the viewing user cause theprocessor to: determine whether the social networking system requirescompensation to associate the selected graphical element with thecontent item; and responsive to determining the social networking systemrequires compensation to associate the selected graphical element withthe content item, request payment information from the viewing user.